7 Habits of highly effective people

Stephen covey s book 7 habits of highly effective people is an inspirational book tells us about the habits that are present in highly effective people. Book consists of internal and external habits of man that make him effective. This book is for all level of management, students and entrepreneur. Structure of the Book: The structure of book is very good from the progression in the book s chapter to the graphic , models such as the overview of habits language is easy to read and understand is most important of the paragraphs. It has great word variation clear examples and inspiration quotes. Book consists of four parts which are divided into seven chapters. Authors structure the book in most effective manner starting from principles followed by private and public victory and then renewal. Key points: Book set the model and principle and then starts with internal habits that result in private victory. Private victory is most important of all because you can`t change the things until you can change yourself. Book has then habits that make you successful in public and in the end author defines the renewal. y y y y y y y y Inside-out Upbeat End in the mind Prioritize things Think deeply List all the interpretations Synergize Sharpen the saw

Authors affected me: Stephen s seven habits of highly effective people is an extra ordinary book that inspire us to build our self that will make us effective and how to deal with forceful personality . An inside out tells us that my behavior and attitude following as it is explained through everyday life situation and real life examples. By the inspiration of such courage, and were deeply moved and motivated to more noble acts of service and consideration. The similar natives take action again, almost as you might expect. For me, one of the real benefits of attending the Management and Leadership Institute was learning specific ways in which I could apply these habits to my career in law librarianship and my job as a managerial leader. Author Achieved the Effects: In his book, Covey explains that highly effective people share seven basic character traits, or habits, which make them successful. These habits are progressive, and each succeeding habit builds upon the previous habits. Author achieved the effects by presenting a holistic, integrated principles centered

approach for solving personal and professional problems. It tells how to adopt the change and wisdom and power to take opportunities. Most of learning comes out from modeling. Relationship between Form and Content: Covey develops this theme into what he calls an inside-out approach. This means to start first with self even more fundamentally, to start with the most inside part of self (your principles, your values, your motives and your character). Covey s view encourages wider recognition of these assets and their maintenance. Once we take for granted say an effective working relationship, we cease to actively maintain it. The result could well be a reduction in the effectiveness of the relationship and, therefore, of a very important asset. The key is balance between use of any asset and maintenance of it. Character s relationship: y y y y y y y y Being proactive is about considering your areas of influence, as well as your areas of concern. Effectiveness does not depend solely on how much effort we expend, but on whether or not the effort we expend is in the right jungle. Effective people are not problem minded, but are opportunity minded. The key is not to prioritize what is on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities. Anything less than Win/Win , in an interdependent reality, is a poor second best that will have impact in the long-term relationship. Having sought first to understand, the next step is to be understood. Synergy is achieved by maximizing the driving forces, but also by minimizing the restraining forces. Putting first things first and the importance of such maintenance activities.

Book Summary: Covey mentions seven habits that can help us to become effective people: 1. Be Proactive 2. Begin with the End in Mind 3. Put First Things First 4. Think Win/Win 5. Seek First to Understand, Then to be Undrstood 6. Synergize 7. Sharpen the Saw

Habit 1: Be Proactive Change starts from within, and highly effective people make the decision to improve their lives through the things that they can influence rather than by simply reacting to external forces. Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind Develop a principle-centered personal mission statement. Extend the mission statement into long-term goals based on personal principles. Habit 3: Put First Things First Spend time doing what fits into your personal mission, observing the proper balance between productions and building production capacity. Identify the key roles that you take on in life, and make time for each of them. Habit 4: Think Win/Win Seek agreements and relationships that are mutually beneficial. In cases where a "win/win" deal cannot be achieved, accept the fact that agreeing to make "no deal" may be the best alternative. In developing an organizational culture, be sure to reward win/win behavior among employees and avoid inadvertently rewarding win/lose behavior. Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood First seek to understand the other person, and only then try to be understood. Stephen Covey presents this habit as the most important principle of interpersonal relations. Effective listening is not simply echoing what the other person has said through the lens of one's own experience. Rather, it is putting oneself in the perspective of the other person, listening empathically for both feeling and meaning. Habit 6: Synergize Through trustful communication, find ways to leverage individual differences to create a whole that is greater than the sum of the parts. Through mutual trust and understanding, one often can solve conflicts and find a better solution than would have been obtained through either person's own solution. Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw Take time out from production to build production capacity through personal renewal of the physical, mental, social/emotional, and spiritual dimensions. Maintain a balance among these dimensions.

Conclusion:
Our character is a collection of our habits, and habits have a powerful role in our lives. Habits consist of knowledge, skill, and desire. Knowledge allows us to know what to do, skill gives us the ability to know how to do it, and desire is the motivation to do it. The Seven Habits move us through the following stages: 1. Dependence: the paradigm under which we are born, relying upon others to take care of us.

2. Independence: the paradigm under which we can make our own decisions and take care of ourselves. 3. Interdependence: the paradigm under which we cooperate to achieve something that cannot be achieved independently. Much of the success literature today tends to value independence, encouraging people to become liberated and do their own thing. The reality is that we are interdependent, and the independent model is not optimal for use in an interdependent environment that requires leaders and team players. To make the choice to become interdependent, one first must be independent, since dependent people have not yet developed the character for interdependence. Therefore, the first three habits focus on self-mastery that is, achieving the private victories required to move from dependence to independence. The first three habits are: Habit 1: Be Proactive Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind Habit 3: Put First Things First Habits 4, 5, and 6 then address interdependence: Habit 4: Think Win/Win Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood Habit 6: Synergize Finally, the seventh habit is one of renewal and continual improvement, that is, of building one's personal production capability. To be effective, one must find the proper balance between actually producing and improving one's capability to produce. Covey illustrates this point with the fable of the goose and the golden egg. In the fable, a poor farmer's goose began laying a solid gold egg every day, and the farmer soon became rich. He also became greedy and figured that the goose must have many golden eggs within her. In order to obtain all of the eggs immediately, he killed the goose. Upon cutting it open he discovered that

it was not full of golden eggs. The lesson is that if one attempts to maximize immediate production with no regard to the production capability, the capability will be lost. Effectiveness is a function of both production and the capacity to produce. The need for balance between production and production capability applies to physical, financial, and human assets. For example, in an organization the person in charge of a particular machine may increase the machine's immediate production by postponing scheduled maintenance. As a result of the increased output, this person may be rewarded with a promotion. However, the increased immediate output comes at the expense of future production since more maintenance will have to be performed on the machine later. The person who inherits the mess may even be blamed for the inevitable downtime and high maintenance expense. Customer loyalty also is an asset to which the production and production capability balance applies. A restaurant may have a reputation for serving great food, but the owner may decide to cut costs and lower the quality of the food. Immediately, profits will soar, but soon the restaurant's reputation will be tarnished, the customer's trust will be lost, and profits will decline. This does not mean that only production capacity is important. If one builds capacity but never uses it, there will be no production. There is a balance between building production capacity and actually producing. Finding the right tradeoff is central to one's effectiveness. The above has been an introduction and overview of the 7 Habits. The following introduces the first habit in Covey's framework.